MATCH INFORMATION
Match No. 5
Daemen Wildcats (0-4, 0-1 ECC) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans (1-4, 1-3 ECC)
Wednesday, Sept. 26 | 11 AM | Williamsville, N.Y. | Miller Tennis Center
THE SERVE
Daemen returns to East Coast Conference action with a midweek dual match against St. Thomas Aquinas. The Wildcats are still seeking their first win of the season after suffering non-conference road losses to Seton Hill and Slippery Rock this past weekend.
MCDERMOTT ERA
The 2018-19 season marks the start of a new era for Daemen as head coach Kerry McDermott begins his first season with the program. In early July, McDermott was named the third head coach in team history after spending the last 36 seasons as the head men's tennis coach at the University of Nebraska. In that time, McDermott led the Huskers to 405 victories, the most of any coach in team history, and two NCAA Tournament appearances. His tenure at the Division I school also included one season (1988-89) as the Huskers' head women's tennis coach.
10!
Daemen is coming off a 10-14 record in 2017-18, the program's first-ever 10-win season. The record-setting campaign included eight victories during the fall season, also the most the team has ever achieved, and tying the program record for wins in an entire season which had been done in each of the three previous seasons. An 8-1 win over Clarion on Feb. 23 broke that mark, and the Wildcats went on to add a 6-3 win over Fairmont State on April 7 to break into double figures.
ROCKIN' ROBINS
Senior Jessica Robins returns to the lineup as the team's most experienced and accomplished player. The North Tonawanda, N.Y. native has been a fixture in the lineup over her first three collegiate seasons, and is coming off the strongest season of her career. She posted a career-best 13 singles wins in 2017-18, ranking tied for fourth among the program's all-time single season leaders. Her doubles win in Saturday's loss to Millersville gives her 58 wins for her career (combined singles and doubles), a total which puts her in sole possession of third place in team history. She opened the season with 57 combined wins which placed her in a tie with former teammate Karli Hollins.
SUPER SOPH
Sophomore Christina Stasiuk also returns to the lineup after making an immediate impact in her rookie season. Stasiuk set a new benchmark for singles wins in a season, racking up 18 of them last year. She surpassed the previous record for singles wins by a freshman (13) set by Gretchen Ringler in 2014-15, and later eclipsed the overall record of 14 singles wins set by Hayle Scanlan in 2016-17.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SCOUTING REPORT
St. Thomas Aquinas is led by head coach Matt Capel, and the Spartans return four players from their 2017-18 team that went 10-11 overall and 4-3 in ECC play. Among the returners is sophomore Cassandra Rohr who earned second team All-ECC honors last season. STAC was picked fifth in the ECC preseason poll. The Spartans opened the 2018-19 season with consecutive losses to Jefferson, NYIT, LIU Post and Queens before picking up a 5-2 victory over Molloy last Friday. The Spartans play Tuesday at Roberts Wesleyan before facing Daemen on Wednesday.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
Series Record: 0-5
Streak: Lost 5
Last Meeting: St. Thomas Aquinas 5, Daemen 4 | Oct. 14, 2017 | Sparkill, N.Y.
ON THE HORIZON
Daemen hosts Salem in a non-conference match this Friday night.
